DIY paint job. Done right. Hopefully

[e304me]

First things first. Have to wash and clean everything before sanding. Kind of counter intuitive i know. I used joy, a 150 grit sanding pad, and a brush to clean.



Part way through the wash/sand



Starting to remove the trim so I can clean all the crap from underneath it



crap under the door sill



crap in the trunk drain area



Done for the day. If anyone knows a good method of removing the trim around the windows let me know




I got some iS sideskirts. I think I am going to just leave them in the black plastic to match my black iS spoiler. If anyone knows what clips and fasteners I need to buy to mount them let me know.

[TwoJ's]

You should definitely spray the side skirts and is lip and spoiler.

[e304me]

I dont know if I like how that looks, a little too much red for me. Maybe I will do it and if dont like it I will just paint it black

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t62/monty2982/E3019.jpg

[george graves]

Plastic not painted body color is almost always done on the low end cars. It's kinda looks cheap. So 150 grit? Isn't that too aggressive. 150 grit - I almost never even use that on wood cause it leaves too many scratches you have to sand out later. Is 150 grit really what you are to start with? (I don't know - I'm asking)

[8380 Labs]

Done for the day. If anyone knows a good method of removing the trim around the windows let me know

start with the little sail panels behind the rear quarter windows. gently pull the entire assembly (including the body-colored metal the trim clips into) straight out, they are very delicate and can bend easily. they may not want to come at first, just slowly increase the pressure and they'll budge. they are held in by 4 or so regular push in style clips and one peg that goes directly into the body at the bottom, so start at the top and work your way down. the bottom will be tricky, just take your time.

once the whole assembly is off, you'll see the clips that hold the trim to the sail piece on the back, just drill them out and buy new ones from the dealer, they are like $0.30 a piece.

the main trim piece is easiest to remove at the back and work your way towards the front i believe. pry them up, and them twist them a bit to get them to release. it's hard to explain but once you look at how they are on there it will make sense, again be careful because they'll bend easily.

you can also remove the trim on the door, below the window by prying it up, it's on there pretty firmly. again, slowly increase pressure until you get it to start coming up. good luck.

[e304me]

Plastic not painted body color is almost always done on the low end cars. It's kinda looks cheap. So 150 grit? Isn't that too aggressive. 150 grit - I almost never even use that on wood cause it leaves too many scratches you have to sand out later. Is 150 grit really what you are to start with? (I don't know - I'm asking)

Well it doesnt really matter now. I am going to be using 36 on some of the paint and filler. The car is still going to be blocked, primed, blocked again, and sealed. (damnit im in for a lot of work). I will be wet sanding the primer with 400 before i apply the sealer.

start with the little sail panels behind the rear quarter windows. gently pull the entire assembly (including the body-colored metal the trim clips into) straight out, they are very delicate and can bend easily. they may not want to come at first, just slowly increase the pressure and they'll budge. they are held in by 4 or so regular push in style clips and one peg that goes directly into the body at the bottom, so start at the top and work your way down. the bottom will be tricky, just take your time.

once the whole assembly is off, you'll see the clips that hold the trim to the sail piece on the back, just drill them out and buy new ones from the dealer, they are like $0.30 a piece.

the main trim piece is easiest to remove at the back and work your way towards the front i believe. pry them up, and them twist them a bit to get them to release. it's hard to explain but once you look at how they are on there it will make sense, again be careful because they'll bend easily.

you can also remove the trim on the door, below the window by prying it up, it's on there pretty firmly. again, slowly increase pressure until you get it to start coming up. good luck.

Ok cool. Does the bottom part of the sail piece just pull out? I was working on it yesterday and it seemed like it was bolted in from the inside.

Definitely paint the side skirts, if thats too much red then you should paint the rear spoiler black. The is lip will look good either black or red

I dont plan on having a rear spoiler. And the sideskirts actually look pretty good in black, a hell of a lot better than the receding undercoat area.

[TwoJ's]

I would advise against using 150 grit.

And if you are dead set on having black skirts and lip, paint them black. Haven't you seen what the unpainted skirts look like on some of the e36's? UV fade is inevitable.

[sonnyqm3]

No 2k means 2 component. You mix it with a chemical that hardens it. Kind of like epoxy.

there is different types of primer.

regular cheap primer
2k primer which is decent
epoxy primer which is the way to go if you are going to do a show car paint job..

brilliant red paint code is 318..

oh I say use 320 or even 400 grit to sand and then prep it real nice then only primer areas where u added bondo.. you need at least 2-3 coats of base coat paint and then 2-3 coats of clear.. use De Beers clears its more of a natural shine look.

[george graves]

... then only primer areas where u added bondo.....

Why not primer the whole car - that gives you a chance to block sand it, right?

[F34R]

Plastic not painted body color is almost always done on the low end cars. It's kinda looks cheap. So 150 grit? Isn't that too aggressive. 150 grit - I almost never even use that on wood cause it leaves too many scratches you have to sand out later. Is 150 grit really what you are to start with? (I don't know - I'm asking)

I am learning advanced body work from my Uncle at his shop, we use red 3M scotch pads. 150 might be too rough...MAYBE. He might get swirl marks. It will be fine if he does a few coats of primer and sands between coats.

(I know it is OT)
I also use 60 grit when I strip wood to make tables and benches(rough cut). Then work up through the grits. 100 grit is quite smooth, I finish with 240 grit, that is uber smooth finish. 100 grit is a good finish for light stains. Darker the smoother it needs to be, and if you polyurethane you will need 240 or higher to make sure the finish does not settle.

Been a contractor for 13 years, I find joy in making things from wood. If you have pictures of finished works post them, I love to look at wooden art. I am working on something awesome, I cannot wait to post finished pictures.

[TwoJ's]

Yeah, the lowest I used was 220, and that was only right on top of the filler right at the beginning to get the rough shape. Don't touch the rest of the car with anything less than 400 IMO. And definitely prime the whole car, block it, look for any dings you may have missed, prime again, block again, if all is perfect, clean the living shit out of EVERYTHING and go for the paint.

Oh, and you are wet sanding, right? Only use "wet or dry" paper, and sand with water. It lets you see everything better and makes life easier.

[IsoGrifo]

A while back, almost a year now in september, I helped my buddy paint his RX7 FD. Beautiful color, perhaps you've heard of it as it's a BMW color, Laguna Seca Blue from the 03 M3, I fell in love with the color and it's what I'm planning on using on my E30 once i get one, lol.

I must say, shooting the paint was the easy part, the hard part was wet sanding every coat or so trying to make it as perfect as can be. unfortunately for me, I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like this, and orange peel is my worst enemy!

After being used in HyperRev magazine(A japanese magazine) 2 months later, thanksgiving morning, my buddy was on his way to the store to pick up some butter for his mom and got t-boned. Some of you AZ guys might know him, Ravi Tomerlin...
well, here's what happened to it...

[markhchambers]

Where can I get those is side skirts?

[8380 Labs]

Why not primer the whole car - that gives you a chance to block sand it, right?

that takes too much time and money when all you're trying to do is flip a car quickly for profit.

[8380 Labs]

Ok cool. Does the bottom part of the sail piece just pull out? I was working on it yesterday and it seemed like it was bolted in from the inside.

as i said before, start at the top and work your way to the bottom, the sail itself has a metal pin at the bottom that plugs into the body, and will need some force to be pulled out.